ASHANTIGOLD coach Bashiru Hayford refused to explain why he dropped Fatau Dauda to the bench in Sunday’s 1-0 win over MO Bejaia in the CAF Champions League qualifier.

The Miners secured a hard fought 1-0 victory over the visitors with fans wondering why the supposed safest pair of hands, Fatau was left on the bench and his place taken by his deputy.

Hayford decided to start Robert Dabuo ahead of the Black Stars second choice at the Len Clay Stadium in the match that Hayford was bound to parade his very best.

It also raised eyebrows because Dauda has been very active in pre-season, occupying the space between the sticks for most of their games including last week’s Super Cup defeat to Medeama at the Accra Sports Stadium.

When asked why the experienced goalie was left out of the starting line-up, Hayford replied: “He wasn’t dropped. Nobody dropped Fatau.”

For the Ashgold trainer, the decision to field Dabuo instead of Fatau was one taken by the technical team with no specific reason.

The slim scoreline presents the Miners a very difficult second leg on February 28 in Algiers.

Despite the huge support from the fans, the Aboakese lads wasted a number of the begging chances that fell their way and were lucky at certain stages to have been left off the hook when the Algerians go on the onslaught.

The club’s skipper, Eric Opoku, admitted the tricky nature of the tie but expressed optimism that they could overcome whatever missiles Bejaia throws at them.